In 1986 Mom Rajawongse Disnadda Diskul, then Principle Private Secretary to HRH Princess Srinagarindra (the Princess Mother), visited Doi Tung, an area in the Northern Thailand that falls in what is known as the Golden Triangle. He reported back that the climate in Doi Tung would be very agreeable for the 89-year old Princess Mother. After her very first visit to the area, she declared she would build her home there and would devote her time to reforestation and development projects in Doi Tung.

Twenty-five years later I traveled with Raymond Ketcham to Doi Tung and spent a week learning first hand about the Sustainable Alternative Living Development (SALD) Model.